Foxcroft & Ginger, Soho, London

30 April 2014

Soho is tightly packed and fast-paced, but Foxcroft & Ginger takes a different tack. It’s a friendly, welcoming place with the ever-present scent of fresh speciality bread.

Foxcroft & Ginger is named after Mr Foxcroft and his wife – a redhead. Co-owners Quintin and Georgina Foxcroft took the leap into self-employment at the turn of the decade, opening Foxcroft & Ginger after years managing other peoples’ bars and restaurants.

As of just a few weeks ago, there are now two branches – the second is in Whitechapel. We visited the original, on Berwick Street in Soho.

Foxcroft & Ginger is a rare beast among London coffee shops in so far as it’s large and relaxed enough to linger over a Guardian crossword. We sat for an hour or so without feeling coffee shop guilt – i.e. the feeling you need to wolf down your espresso double-quick and move on. We bought a couple of rounds of drinks to justify our stay, of course.

On my one previous visit I brought my laptop and made use of the power sockets downstairs.

It’s not only relaxed and spacious, but also rather gorgeous. The industrial feel isn’t unique, but it works. Thanks to the ceiling-high front window, sunlight drapes over the wooden tables and floor. The space downstairs is a little less welcoming, but still comfortable.

There’s even a pommel horse, in case you’re feeling a little Beth Tweddle.

Best of all, Foxcroft & Ginger is also a working bakery. The waft of fresh bread mingles with fresh coffee, and smiley bakers bound around preparing the morning’s batch, smiles not waning even as I accidentally get in their way with my photo-taking.

They tell me that baking started at midnight. The table of rolls shown above was a regular order ready to be shipped out – we saw them being baked, a dozen or so at a time.

My coffees – a flat white and a filter – were very good. Not the best I had on this brief trip to London, but up there. The beans currently come from top notch roasteries HasBean and Caravan.

I may have only visited a couple of times, but Foxcroft & Ginger is already one of my favourite London coffee shops – it’s the space, the pace, the smiles and the bread.

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1 Comment

I have loved this place since it opened in Soho but its turning out to be a huge dissapointment lately …. Now the coffee is closer to £3.. yet doesn’t taste as good as it used to .. the flat white felt watered down. Previously had friendlier staff who were happy to make my coffee the way I like it with a spirnke of sugar in the botom… This time round I was pointed to the sugar counter!

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